Yisrael Beytenu MK Ilatov can stay on Judicial Selection Committee

MK Robert Ilatov, whose Yisrael Beytenu faction is set to join the coalition this week, is the opposition representative on the committee.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: MAY 22, 2016 23:29
Robert Ilatov (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Robert Ilatov
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The Judicial Selection Committee can legally not have any opposition representatives, Knesset Legal Adviser Eyal Yinon affirmed Sunday.
MK Robert Ilatov, whose Yisrael Beytenu faction is set to join the coalition this week, is the opposition representative on the committee.
In response to a letter from MK Esawi Frej (Meretz) demanding that Ilatov be removed from the panel, Yinon pointed out that the law does not say there must be coalition and opposition representation on the committee, just two non-minister MKs, one of whom must be a woman.
Yinon explained that while there has been an informal custom of choosing an opposition and a coalition MK, in the last Knesset, two opposition MKs were elected to the committee.
“There is no legal basis for the demand to remove MK Ilatov from the Judicial Selection Committee if his faction joins the coalition,” Yinon concluded.
The opposition will be left without a representative in the Judicial Selection Committee at a pivotal time.
Between now and the end of 2017, four Supreme Court justices will reach retirement age, including court President Miriam Naor, giving the current committee unique influence.